The Entire Month of January

I will admit it.

I am not a slacker.

I almost said that I was a slacker, but that would not be a true statement.

It is true that I have not been very consistent in keeping up on this blog- AKA my family's journal- however, I have been very busy taking care of my family, trying to take the next steps with my book, planning and preparing for my preschool classes, and a whole host of other activities.  Unfortunately blogging has taken a back seat, but that's okay.  Blogging is not my most important endeavor.  My family is.

But, I do have a few quiet moments right now so I am going to take advantage of them and catch up a bit.

The month of January is always a little light on photos.  We just don't do a whole lot and there are no holidays that we really celebrate (other than New Years and I am hit or miss with actually taking New Year's pictures.  This year was a miss.)

But I do have a few things that I want to make sure I blog about before January gets too far behind us.

1.  Assisting Josh in a covert operation.

What was this covert operation you ask?

Oh nothing...just asking an adorable young lady to Junior Prom.

Mission accomplished.

2.  Watching the girls have fun with face paint.

Abbie received a face painting kit for Christmas and this is what I discovered one day after preschool.  Silly girls.

3.  Josh's concert with the Utah Youth Philharmonic.

This is Josh's third year playing with the Utah Youth Phil and I am always so impressed with the quality of sound that these young musicians produce.  They are so amazing and I love that he is having this experience.

(I call this photograph "The Lone Cellist." :)

4.  A Ski Date

Mark and I have been talking about going skiing for years now.  I am happy to say that we finally stopped talking and started doing.  We found a smokin' deal on a lesson/rental/day pass and could not pass up the opportunity.  Mark has not been skiing before (unless you count that one time when he was 14 and made it down the mountain once before going back to the lodge for hot chocolate.)  I have not been skiing for years, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it all came back.  We had such a great afternoon together.  Definitely a date that I want to do again.

5.  Publishing my book

After 2 1/2 years of typing, worrying, pondering, stressing, and staring at my computer screen, I am so excited to say that my book is finally a reality.  I ordered some copies that arrived before Christmas (125 to be exact) and had a lot of fun surprising family members and some friends with a copy of it.  It turned out beautiful and I feel so blessed to have it be done and out there, ready for people to read. 

Getting the eBook up on Amazon has been more challenging than I expected and there have been a lot of tears, frustration, and anger in that process.  I even spent one night saying very hateful things about my book.  They were all in my head (or muttered under my breath), but they were said.  I was finally able to clear through all of the unknowns and technical difficulties and now my beautiful book is available for purchase in eBook form.  I haven't had a lot of eBook sales yet, but I do know that the book is finding the people who need to read it.  I have had so many kind and thoughtful things said to me and I really appreciate all of those remarks.

I also ordered some business cards and...what can I say?  I love them!  I am very happy with how they turned out.  It still feels very weird to refer to myself as an author, but I am slowly getting used to it.